Suffolk, also called Suffolk Punch, smallest draft-horse breed, which originated in Suffolk, Eng. Descended from the medieval “great horse,” the Suffolk is an old breed that has probably had less crossing with other lines than most draft breeds. All registered Suffolks in Britain and North America trace their lineage to “Crisp’s Horse” (born 1768). Suffolks are unusually compact and rotund, with thick, short necks, legs, and backs; they are docile but powerful. They stand 15.2 to 16.2 hands (about 62 to 66 inches, or 157 to 168 cm) high and weigh from 1,600 to 2,000 pounds (725 to 900 kg). The coat is always chestnut-coloured.

Suffolk

Sally Anne Thompson/EB Inc.

The Suffolk Horse Society of Great Britain was organized in 1880. That same year the breed was imported to the United States.

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in horse

a hoofed, herbivorous mammal of the family Equidae. It comprises a single species, Equus caballus, whose numerous varieties are called breeds. Before the advent of mechanized vehicles, the horse was widely used as a draft animal, and riding on horseback was one of the chief means of transportation....

The horses used for heavy loads and farm labour descended from the ancient war horses of the Middle Ages. These breeds—including the English Shire (the world’s largest horse), Suffolk, and Clydesdale; the French Percheron; the Belgian horse; the German Noriker; and the Austrian Pinzgauer—are now little used for their original purpose, having been almost entirely replaced by the...